Scientific Inquiry

The Scientific Inquiry program provides the beginning university student a general introduction to science, with contributions drawn from the natural, behavioral and social sciences. SCI 105 is a requirement in the College of Liberal Arts General Education Program. This course is designed to help students gain skills in the practice of the methodology of science and improve their critical thinking skills. Scientific Inquiry explores the role of science as a creative human endeavor permeating our society through a case study approach. Among other things, students will evaluate science and scientific methods as bases for both public and private decision-making, and examine the limits of science as a tool for understanding the world.

Courses

SCI 105. Scientific Inquiry (3 hours)

An introduction to the human activity of science in its broadest terms, including examples drawn from the natural, behavioral and social sciences. The course includes the investigation of the logical, empirical and mathematical modes of thought that contribute to its endeavors; the type of knowledge obtainable with its application; the social, ethical and political contexts of its practice; and the kinds of discourse used in its communication.

SCI 110. Elements of Discovery (2 hours)

Prerequisite: SCI 105.

This eight-week science laboratory module is a study of selected topics in biology, chemistry and physics. Subjects may include, but are not limited to ecology, thermal and electrical conductivity, chemical equilibrium, animal behavior, laws of motion and gravity, and the periodic table. Learning through inquiry/discovery will be emphasized during laboratory sessions. This is a lecture and laboratory course.

SCI 111. Science at the Interface (2 hours)

Prerequisite: SCI 105.

This eight-week science module is an introduction to science as an interdisciplinary pursuit. A combination of lectures and laboratory investigations will illustrate the technologies used every day in science-related fields, such as forensics and medicine, as an integration of fundamental concepts developed in chemistry, biology and physics. Problem-solving skills will be emphasized, and laboratory exercises will provide opportunities to understand scientific principles. The course includes three one-hour lectures and one three-hour lab per week.

SCI 112. Great Papers in Science (2 hours)

Prerequisite: SCI 105.

This eight-week science laboratory module focuses on classic papers and experiments in a sub-discipline in the natural or physical sciences. Students will read and discuss classic papers in a seminar format in which the human activity of scientific inquiry is emphasized, rather than the specific results of that inquiry. Students will explore how theory and experimentation combine to generate scientific knowledge and how scientists persuade their colleagues through the rhetoric evidenced by scientific publication. This is a seminar and laboratory course. It may be repeated with different topics.